World

France weather: Red alert as flash floods kill 10 in south-west

October 15, 2018 5:06 pm

At least 10 people have been killed by flash floods in the Aude region of southern France.

Local authorities say several months’ worth of rain fell in just a few hours overnight, leaving roads blocked in some areas.

A nun was swept away by the River Aude, local broadcaster BFMTV reports.

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Separately, a policewoman attending to a weather-related traffic accident in the town of Albi was hit and killed by a motorist.

The death toll has been revised down from 13, France’s interior ministry explained, because of an error which meant some of the dead had been counted twice.

Alain Thirion, the prefect of Aude, said people were stranded on rooftops and would have to be evacuated by air because it was too dangerous by boat.